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Josh
Siegal and his writing
partner Dylan Morgan
were staff writers
for Monk
throughout the seventh
and eighth seasons.
Their first episode,
"Mr. Monk is
on the Air"
was written before
they were brought
on to the writing
staff permanently
as was their second
episode, "Mr
Monk Joins a Cult".
Their contributions
this season include
"Mr. Monk Takes
a Stand" and
"Mr. Monk is
the Best Man".
Before coming to
work for Monk
they wrote for shows
such as Crossballs:
The Debate Show
and Dog
Bites Man. Josh
only had time for
a few questions,
but lucky for me
he had a few really
good answers. |
Did
you choose this
particular episode,
"Mr. Monk Takes
a Stand" as
the one you wanted
to work on? If so
why?
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Working
on Monk
is enough fun that
my writing partner
(Dylan Morgan) and
I would have been
happy doing any
episode, but we
were attracted to
“Mr. Monk
Takes the Stand”
for a few reasons.
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It felt
like it would
be a cool opportunity
to subvert the
show’s structure
by starting where
most episodes
end – okay,
Monk catches all
these bad guys,
what happens next?
What happens when
these bizarre
cases wind up
in court, and
this incredibly
quirky fellow
has to testify?
That all seemed
like fresh territory.
Plus it’s
always a treat
to write Monk
facing off against
a powerful bad
guy.
What
in this episode
are you particularly
proud of?
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Monk
falling apart on
the stand was great,
and then Monk pulling
himself apart at
the crime scene
imagining what Harrison
Powell might say
the next time they
faced off. |
Tony
Shalhoub is so good
at taking things
that have silliness
in them, and then
making them funny
and also emotional
and moving.
How
did your first opportunity
to write for
Monk come about?
That was “Mr.
Monk is on the Air,”
right?
“Mr.
Monk is on the Air”
was our first. We
were friendly with
Tom Scharpling,
who has been one
of Monk’s
premier architects
with Andy Breckman
from pretty much
the beginning. We
pitched Tom a whole
bunch of ideas,
he picked a favorite
or two, made them
better, and then
Andy liked what
he heard. It was
a real honor because
we were fans of
the show and had
never written a
mystery, but they
bought pretty much
our whole story.
Then what happens
is, you go out and
spend a week with
the Monk
team fleshing the
idea out into a
scene-by-scene outline.
That week is when
most of the important
story decisions
are made.
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That
week also happened
to be when my first
son was born. Andy
was so kind about
it, he gave me two
days off –
that’s two
days out of five,
just time to be
with my new family.
I’ll always
be grateful to Andy
for that. Plus,
we went ahead and
named the episode’s
killer DJ after
my newborn, Max
Hudson. Just a weird,
nice, perfect storm
of a week. |
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What can we expect
to see in the final
half of the season
without revealing
too much of course?
We’re
down to the last
few episodes and
I don’t want
to give anything
away. Hopefully
it’s the right
mix of closure but
also excitement.
This is a group
of characters that
the writing staff
cares about as much
as the fans do,
and we worked hard
to find the best
ways of saying goodbye
to them.
What
was your favorite
part of “Mr.
Monk is the Best
Man”?
I
would have liked
this episode even
if I hadn't helped
write it - I'm a
sucker for stories
where (spoiler alert)
love conquers all.
I think Leland and
TK have great chemistry,
and there's a lot
of nice emotion
when Stottlemeyer,
who has been so
unlucky in love,
finally finds happiness.
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I
love the fact that
Monk is the one
who is filled with
hope even when things
are at their darkest,
simply because of
how much he loved
(his) Trudy and
still believes in
that kind of love.
But all that said
I think my very
favorite moment
is Natalie talking
to TK about Mitch,
and how she would
marry him all over
again even knowing
their fate. |
Andy has said the whole series is about loss, and
this episode - and
in a way this whole
season - is about
the flip side of
that coin, how we
finally try to move
on from that loss.
Stottlemeyer, Natalie
and Monk have all
faced loss of one
kind or another,
but here we get
to see the surprising
ways people find
the strength to
overcome that. And
if you can explore
a message like that
and still have Randy
accidentally rewrite
"Light My Fire"
while thinking he
came up with it
himself, I'm happy.
I've
never been part
of a show ending
its run (on purpose)
and saying goodbye,
and it was a real
thrill to be part
of a team trying
to do that in a
satisfying way.
I'll always be grateful
to Andy for letting
me be a part of
it. |
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